Since the beginning of the year, I have been serving as a Korean advisor to a private association called Edge AI & Vision Alliance in Silicon Valley and recently appointed as an external expert member of the Korean Artificial Intelligence Association, so I am trying to keep up with the rapidly developing technology. It was very interesting to see that AI is now the keyword instead of Metaverse at IT-related exhibitions, and that Apple has branded AI as Apple Intelligence instead of Artificial Intelligence. During Apple’s WWDC keynote presentation the other day, I saw a demonstration that analyzed all the past photos and videos taken by iPhone users and accurately recalled past materials when they gave voice commands under certain conditions, and it was amazing to see that AI can now recall memories that they don’t remember. AI technology has already provided a lot of convenience and done a lot of work for me, but now it seems to be approaching the realm of my memory, which made me feel a little uncomfortable.

IT technology has evolved so much that new services such as virtual reality (VR), virtual office metaverse, and digital humans have emerged, but our lives have become even more dependent on AI services, as non-face-to-face services between people have become the norm, and we ask questions to ChatGPTs trained by LLMs rather than people with real-life experience. And we’ve had horrifying imaginings that if you have a smartphone that is more powerful than the supercomputers of the past and are addicted to games, YouTube channels, and Instagram, you could become the energy source for a human farm that is already being bred inside AI algorithms, just like in the movie The Matrix. It occurred to me that whale users, those who pay to play, might be unhappy to become NPCs (Non-Player Characters) for the fun of the game, human bots that become ad targets and click on ad images, and social media addicts that get a dopamine rush from constantly scrolling through stimulating feeds. When I saw online games that became a marketplace for trading items instead of actually playing the game, creators who overreacted or overbroadly broadcasted to get sponsored ads or giftcards, and lecturers who sold online courses claiming that social media marketing could help them make a fortune in shopping malls, I felt that the role of humans in the age of AI has become too humble.

Nowadays, it’s hard to go about my daily life without my smartphone, but sometimes I just want to relax in a place where there’s no internet and I want to enjoy the scenery instead of watching YouTube videos. I experience this every day, and I know that it’s inspiring to see a beautiful sunrise or sunset with my own eyes and feel it with my whole body. It’s more exhilarating to run until I’m out of breath and then take a drink of cool water than the cocktail I’m sipping in a foreign vacation spot on someone else’s social media. There is a real comfort and encouragement that comes from direct human interaction, just as there is a sense of grace and inspiration that comes from hearing a pastor speak in person at church, rather than watching a great sermon a hundred times on an online service. And my brain works faster and more creatively than an AI system when I wake up at dawn and write a blog with a pencil in my journal than it does when I’m faced with daily news updates, tons of emails to check, and constant Messenger notifications. You don’t have to read a Miracle Morning book to know why you’re smarter than an AI, just take a breath of the dawn air and watch the sun rise. Realizing that in order to survive the tsunami-like flood of AI, we need to find clear living water, not muddy water, and drink from it, I wake up at dawn every day to meditate on Job 9 and write my blog.